The papers document some of Pauline Fanning's activities during her long career at the National Library of Australia and her association and friendship with a number of politicians, writers, collectors, librarians and academics. They include correspondence, diaries, notebooks, research notes, talks, book reviews, and newspaper cuttings. There are files on the Ferguson, Nan Kivell, Palmer and Petherick collections, exhibitions, publications and a few of her colleagues. The correspondents include Lord and Lady Casey, Russell Cope, Gerald Fischer, Adelaide Lubbock, Marcie Muir and Aileen Palmer.