Seems like I know lots of people having babies these days, and we’re all excited about that! I mean, who doesn’t love the little nose and little toes?

However, as a middle-aged spinster, I suffer from a lack of knowledge when it comes to the care and maintenance of those babes. (No one will be calling me at 2 a.m. for advice about turbulent tummies or uncomfortable diapers.)

Luckily, there is a surfeit of resources in your local library. Parenting magazines (a plethora of periodicals), educational videos (I balk at using the term “instructional,” since I don’t know if there is an owner’s manual for these little guys), and an abundance of books aimed at assisting us in the pursuit of comprehensive parenting.

Pediatrician Alvin N. Eden has updated his classic, Positive Parenting: Raising Healthy Children from Birth to Three Years. Organized chronologically, this book is a “walk-through” for each stage of development, complete with charts about growth and learning. Eden discusses issues including vaccinations, safety, exercise, nutrition and language.

In the section “Birth to Three Months,” Eden divides his charts into three parts — physical, emotional, and mental/intellectual. In “Nine to Twelve Months,” the doctor counsels that babies learn primarily through games, and describes Go Get It, a floor activity which encourages babies to practice mobility skills while introducing them to words specifically associated with objects.

Safety, safety, safety is the focus of Jennifer Bright Reich’s The Babyproofing Bible: The Exceedingly Thorough Guide to Keeping Your Child Safe, from crib to car to yard. Reich, the mother of two young boys, wrote this book as she was living her own baby-proofing exploits. Organized by location, activity and age, The Babyproofing Bible gives a guided tour of the safe nursery, bathroom, kitchen, mentioning safety locks, stove guards and baby gates. Helpful hints about protecting your child in the car, at the grocery store or the restaurant or on your first family vacation seem simple and sensible. Not just for parents, this book is helpful for anyone who hangs out with babes.

Here’s a mouthful title for consumers: Parenting, Inc.: How We Are Sold on $800 Strollers, Fetal Education, Baby Sign Language, Sleeping Coaches, Toddler Couture and Diaper Wipe Warmers – and What It Means for Our Children. Pamela Paul has penned an exposé on the billion-dollar baby business, investigating how the parenting industry has spent the last generation or so convincing parents that “they cannot trust their children’s health, happiness and success to themselves.”

Armed with interviews with educators, psychologists, doctors, parents, entrepreneurs and marketing executives, Paul puts together a picture of how parents may become the perfect prey, pressured into buying pricey products without proven baby benefits.

From Lynda Fassa, the founder of the company Green Babies Organic Cotton, comes Green Babies, Sage Moms: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Your Organic Baby. The book offers a “greenprint” for raising your child as toxin-free as possible, with the bonus of helping your household become more eco-environmentally friendly and supportive of sustainable living.

She supplies the reader with lists of products, addresses for Web sites, inset advice from “green gurus,” and chapters entitled “Home Environment: How To Detox Your Nest Without A Huge Overhaul” and “Give Peas a Chance — When the Outside World Enters Your Baby’s Mouth.”

And, finally, at the zenith of all this, who does not want a happy baby? A relatively concise book, How To Have A Happy Toddler: Responding To Your Child’s Emotional Needs From 0-4, is chock-a-block with expert information and pragmatic examples of productive parenting. The author, Dr. Carol Valinejad, tenders sensible recommendations for “time management” through teamwork, flexibility in routines and accepting help from others.

Other sections detail encouraging positive social behavior, developing confidence and establishing interactive communication.

With the above mentioned titles, and multitudes more full of wisdom and witticisms about coming offspring, those friends of mine who are expecting know exactly what to expect from me as “Auntie Di” — I’ll make the trip to the library for you when you’re too busy to make one yourself.

Diane Hogan is the Head of Reference and Electronic Services at the East Greenwich Free Library.

Library notes

The Coventry Public Library Foundation will hold a dinner and silent auction Friday, Oct. 24, at 6:30 p.m. at Nino’s on Lake Tiogue, 446 Tiogue Ave., Coventry. Tickets are $35. For more information or tickets, call (401) 822-9100.

Tickets are also available for a raffle for a doll house. Tickets are $5 each or 3 for $10.

Proceeds from the dinner and raffle will benefit the Coventry Public Library.

William Brennan will exhibit his 35mm photography through Sept. 30 at the Cranston Public Library, 140 Sockanosset Cross Rd. The subject of the exhibit is natural landscape and abstract photography.

An exhibit by the Rhode Island Photo Safari Group will be at the library from Sept. 5 to 30.

Fall hours have begun at the Cranston Public Library and all its branches. The following hours will be in effect through Dec. 31.

Central Library, 140 Sockanosset Cross Rd., Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday hours will be 1 to 5 p.m. from Sept. 14 through Dec. 21.

Arlington Reading Room, 1064 Cranston St., Monday through Thursday, noon to 4:30 p.m.

Auburn Branch, 396 Pontiac Ave., Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

William Hall Library, 1825 Broad St., Monday through Thursday, noon to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Knightsville Branch, 1847 Cranston St., Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 1 to 8 p.m.

Oak Lawn Branch, 230 Wilbur Ave., Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wednesday, 1 to 8 p.m.

Items for this column may be e-mailed to wbnews@projo.com, faxed to (401) 277-7227, or mailed to The Providence Journal, West Bay Bureau, 75 Fountain St., 3rd floor, Providence, R.I. 02902. You can reach us at (401) 277-7090.