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The Happiest Baby on the Block for Frances' friend.
Where's the Bone (by Manhattan Toys) for her baby.

I love the Baby 411 and Toddler 411 books. I also swear by Dr. Weissbluth's book; Healthy Sleep, Happy Baby. My son has slept through the night since he was four months old by following his rec. But everyone has their preferred sleep method.

For baby, we received Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert, which is really cool and creative.

If my son could type, he would highly recommend Baby Faces. He has been obsessed with that book for the past 3 months. He has to look at it at least three times a day. I would also say the other books from that publisher are really good too.

Oops, I didn't catch the "parenting library" part. Ignore the children's book recommendations, sorry.

I think I read too many books, which overwhelmed me once I brought baby home, however! my favorite book and the one that I still refer to is:

The Modern Girl's Guide to Motherhood by Jane Buckingham with Jen Furmaniak.

It's simple, funny and has lots of good tips and favorite products.

I've also found the Sears' Baby Book and the Weissbluth sleep book helpful. To these suggestions, I would add: T.Berry Brazelton's Touchpoints: Birth to 3, which focuses on the different stages of development and gives some good coping strategies. With my second baby, the free diaper bag from the hospital included Kathleen Huggins' The Nursing Mother's Companion, which I've consulted a few times--even with it being the second time around. Also, someone gave me Great Books for Babies and Toddlers by Kathleen Odean--a guide to children's books. I myself had a book baby shower for the same reasons of already getting hand-me-downs and not wanting too much random stuff. We're still enjoying the books we received. I would totally throw some books for the baby in with the parenting books. I could give a big list of those, but I think that's another whole topic!

I second Happiest Baby on the Block (we got the video) for when baby is young and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child which we used after ending cosleeping.

These two books are what we will be using for our next baby.

I don't think you need too many baby books. I liked the Sears' book and Happiest Baby on the Block for information. For fun, I liked The Naked Truth About the First Year of Mommyhood by Jennie McCarthy.

Along with "Happiest Baby on the Block" and "Healthy Sleep Habits", I really liked "The Baby Whisperer" by Tracey Hogg. For 4am troubleshooting, there's also "The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems". it really does :)

Babies also grow so fast that I'd recommend some baby cookbooks:
"First Meals" By Annabel Karmel
"Organic Baby and Toddler Cookbook"
"Blender Baby Food" by Nicole Young

The Dr. Sears Baby Book,

Dr. Jack Newman's book on breastfeeding, http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Breastfeeding-Answers-Revised-Updated/dp/0307345580/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199830488&sr=1-1,

the Canadian Medical Association Complete Book of Mother and Baby Care
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Mother-Baby-Care/dp/0888505442

and Anabel Karmel's First Meals
http://www.amazon.com/First-Meals-Annabel-Karmel/dp/0789441772

I had to post for this question because this book changed my life: Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg. I read Sears, Happiest Baby on Block, etc. and didn't identify with their parenting philosophies at all and so I asked my doctor who is a mother too and she told me about this amazing book. I wasn't going to sleep with my kid forever or let him cry it out. Tracy Hogg appealed to me because she teaches how to parent and be involved without being too soft or expecting your kid to do it on his own - I am so grateful my doctor recommended it. My son is now 20 months and has slept 12 hours a night since 4 months old (I started at 3.5 months and it took two weeks of work to perfect this - start at birth if you can). Every tooth, cold or anything is manageable and we can get back to his routine within a day or two. The book also covers eating, playing, and more. For the parents, Wholesome Meals for Babies and Toddlers and 365 Recipes for Babies, Toddlers, and Children are good for feeding later on... As for books to read to your child that I think are a pleasing read for parents as well are pretty much anything by Julia Donaldson - favorites include Night Monkey, Day Monkey, Snail and the Whale, Monkey Puzzle, and Charlie Cook's Favorite Book.

On Becoming Baby Wise: The Classic Sleep Reference Guide Used by Over 1,000,000 Parents Worldwide was the best thing that I read. I am a mom of twins and would have been lost without it.

Oh, rats, I misread the original post and thought this thread was about baby books, as in books for babies. I've got a zillion recommendations for those. Parenting books? Not so much, as I hate them all with a passion. A couple of years ago, I documented my loathing here .

I liked the books for babies question better as well. We love Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers.

Another Baby whisperer advocate here. It is the best book for new mothers.

People gave us a ton of baby books. Dr. Sear's The Baby Book was one that was very useful for breastfeeding, but I don't care for it much otherwise (too preachy & guilt-inducing). Baby 411 is my favorite, hands down. It's laid out in a simple question & answer format, indexed by topic. If you're anything like me, it's nearly impossible to find the time to read through some of the wordy tomes out there to get the little bit of information you are looking for, so Baby 411 was a godsend.

What to expect the first year by Heidi Murkoff was helpful for me. I wasn't looking so much for parenting advice as I was information about specific illnesses and treatment, growth milestones, when to introduce solids, etc. As a reference book it was pretty good, and I liked the "your baby this month" layout.

I also loved the Happiest Baby on the Block, which was reassuring and really worked for us. The DVD is fun to watch.

We enjoyed Baby Play (Gymboree) for ideas for games and entertainment, and Baby Bargains by Denise Fields was a big help when it came to picking out the car seat, etc. It's the only place I've easily found info like height limits for infant car seats (we're tall, my son was tall, and he outgrew his infant seat at 6 months).

My son is now 3 and we'll be reusing these with baby #2, due in July. I'm adding a couple of books on raising "green" babies this time, including Green Babies, Sage Moms and Raising Baby Green.