I built these for one of the Sunday school rooms at my church. The idea is for the shelves to house learning manipulatives, and for doors to slide into place to hide the items when not in use. 
I used birch-veneered plywood for the bulk of the structure and solid birch for the face. The joints are dado and glue- no nails were used, except to secure the melamine to the back. They're finished with a sealer and polyurethane. 
