If the iMac is the master repository then settings on the MacBook won't make any difference to accessibility.
iTunes: How to share music and video - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2688 - about Music Sharing and Home Sharing
iTunes 12 for Mac: Use Home Sharing to import items from another iTunes library - https://support.apple.com/kb/PH19614
Tips on how to do this to preserve organization, sound quality, smart playlists, ratings, or other configuration items?
This is only about another 5 pages of posts. 😉 In essence nothing (mostly) will change.
Organization - For most people it is up to iTunes to organize the files. If you copy them across iTunes will put them where it wants to.
Sound quality - Nothing at all to do with moving hte files. The quality is determined by the file creation settings and also by the playback settings on the device actually used to play back. If you don't change those on your MacBook in the meantime then things won't change.
Smart playlists - Generate according to rules and if you remove a track to which those rules apply then the track won't be in the list. If you add more tracks and the rules apply then they will appear.
Ratings - Are specific to the actual library file used with a computer and your iMac will have one and the MacBook another. I haven't used Home Sharing so I don't know if it is clever enough to transfer ratings when copying a file but I suspect it does not.
Other configuration - Don't change any settings and nothing will change.
