Limiting Access to uploads folder

I know that this topic has been covered before, but my issue is a little different.

I have some PDF’s in my uploads folder that I’d like to link to (so they have to be public), but would like to keep the folder itself private (so no one can browse through my files).

How can I do this? Also, if there’s an easier/different way of securing the folder and sharing files, I’d love to hear that as well.