The problem is there are multiple halls (some with separate entries) each with multiple aisles (with limited illumination) created by shelves full of books and other printed matter. Some of the matter is quite old and may be said to be priceless. Fixing a camera to monitor each and every aisle may not be feasible. Some of the shelves go all the way to the ceiling while others are only about 7 ft. high.
Scholars are given access to the books etc. and sometimes it is later found that certain pages have been torn out, resulting in greatly diminishing the value of the book/document.
Since scholars are of all kinds, some of them from the topmost echelons of academia/society/politics it is not possible for the library to enforce any kind of a regular pat-down/search system.
I would like to invite suggestions from members who may have worked on similar projects or who may like to offer their thoughts on how to best go about tackling this.
Ideally, the suggested system should act as a strong deterrent since a missing/damaged page (even if recovered later) greatly reduces the value of the original document.
The budget has not yet been decided but is likely to be limited since the library like most, runs on a limited grant.