"It is proper for her to feel a bit of embarassment over this"

I agree AlexWm, it is proper for Maria to feel a bit of embarassment over this, but the people who should bear the primary responsibility for this are too busy dumping on Maria to accept any blame for themselves.

It is always easier to blame someone on the outside than to blame ourselves, or our own.

I accept that Maria bears "a bit" of responsibilty for what happened, but she doesn't deserve to be the 'whipping boy' for the Livermore library's incompetence.