The bulk of the material is outgoing correspondence to her sons, Dean and Asa Merrill (1940-1960). There is also a small amount of correspondence to and from Dean Merrill, mostly concerning his mother. Other correspondents include friends and other family members. The letters written by Merrill mainly recount happenings in Logan and in her personal life.

The remainder of the collection contains personal material of Laura Merrill. Most significant here are a series of journals (1938, 1940-1943, 1946-1961 intermittent). Typewritten summaries are available with the journals. Also, the collection has personal material from Merrill's missions with the Church and some Merrill family history.

The collection does not include a record of Merrill's experiences working in the Topaz Japanese internment camp library. Material associated with the Utah Relocation Camp includes correspondence, mostly cards with brief notes and a few miscellaneous papers.