[Sidenote: Effected his reforms by educational campaigns,] [Sidenote: _Annual Reports_,] [Sidenote: _School Journal_,] [Sidenote: school libraries,] [Sidenote: and state normal schools.] During his twelve years in the office, Mann subserved the interests of the state most faithfully. To awaken the people, he made an educational campaign through every portion of the state each year, but an even more effective means of disseminating his reforms was found in his series of _Annual Reports_. These documents were by law to give information concerning existing conditions and the progress made in the efficiency of public education each year, and they deal with practically every educational topic of importance at the time. Sometimes they seem commonplace, but it must be remembered that they were not so then, and that the work of Mann did much to render them familiar. They vitally affected school conditions everywhere in New England, and were read with great interest in all parts of the United States, and even in Europe. He also published semi-monthly the _Massachusetts Common School Journal_, to spread information concerning school improvement, school law, and the proceedings of the State Board. But it consisted of only sixteen pages, and was not as valuable as some of the educational journals that had preceded it (see pp. 304 f.). Another medium in the improvement of educational facilities was Mann’s general establishment of school libraries by state subsidy throughout Massachusetts. But probably the most permanent means of propagating his reforms came through securing the foundation of the first public normal schools in this country. Massachusetts was in 1838 induced to establish three schools, so located that all parts of the state might be equally served. The course in each school consisted in a review of the common branches from the teaching point of view, work in educational theory, and training in a practice school under supervision, and, while not largely attended, these institutions were a great success from the start. [Sidenote: Opposed by Boston schoolmasters,] [Sidenote: the ultra-orthodox, and other reactionaries.]