Top 10 most frequently banned or challenged books

Here are the classics that made the list:

The responses:

Tim Kambitsch, director, Dayton Metro Libraries

Favorite: "1984"

Comment: "Some people want to restrict or ban titles from school libraries or curricula but they don't oppose the same material being in the public library."

Bridgett Williams, head coach, WSU women's basketball

Favorite: "The Color Purple"

Comment: "I like discussing books with friends and family in small circles. Banning books would certainly take away that opportunity."

Althea Harper, "Project Runway" contestant

Favorite: "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Comment: "I think this is a great book that teaches the importance of seeing the whole story before passing judgment. This book touched me so much as a child as I am sure it influenced many other children and adults that I can't imagine this book banned."

Ted Strickland, governor

Favorite: "1984"

Comment: "A case can be made for protecting children from some forms of written materials, but I find it hard to think of a case where adults should be deprived of reading materials unless the content is, by law, illegal."

Sherrod Brown, U.S. Senator

Favorites: "The Grapes of Wrath" and "1984"

Comment: "'Grapes of Wrath' is a powerful depiction of the struggle for social and economic justice. People who try to get '1984' banned are doing exactly what '1984' warns against."

Neal Gittleman, music director, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra

Comment: "These are all great, worthy books that transcend whatever in them has evoked the ire of book-banners. But favorite? For me, a favorite book is one that I love unconditionally, that brings me joy as a reader, that I want to re-read as soon as I've finished the last page, that haunts me long after I've put it down. By that definition of 'favorite,' nothing on the list really applies, with only 'The Color Purple' or 'To Kill a Mockingbird' coming even remotely close."

Mary Wiseman, Montgomery County Common Pleas Court judge

Favorite: "The Color Purple"

Comment: "But I thought the film was awful and cowardly in its avoidance of the same-gender theme critical to the novel."

Ted Kissell, retired athletic director, University of Dayton, where he still teaches a business course

Favorite: "The Great Gatsby"

Comment: "I love the juxtaposition of the very spare prose with the very rich themes. One theme is the pursuit of money and materialism and greed and how that comes to no good end. That's why, one year after the financial meltdown, that novel pops up more than the others. That was not only the mindset of the Jazz Age; it foreshadowed a mindset that is very much our own today."

Maureen O'Connor, Ohio Supreme Court Justice

Favorite: "To Kill A Mockingbird"

Comment: " 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is probably my favorite because of the compassion exhibited by Atticus Finch and the ability to do what is right in the face of community disapproval and the lessons that he taught his children by way of his words and his actions."

Brandon Saine, Ohio State University football player

Favorite: "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Comment: "I agree with parents screening what really young kids might read, to be sure they can handle the story line, but I pretty much believe people should be able to decide for themselves what they want to read. I don't see any reason for banning books from a public library — I heard even some of the Harry Potter books were banned in places, and I enjoyed the ones I read of those."