Blackburn racks are excellent. Extremely tough but light.

For tyres, yes, get treadless "slicks" or almost treadless semi-slicks. Different tyres give a different mixture of speed, wet and dry grip, pucture protection, etc. If you take a look at Schwalbe's site they give relative ratings for all these factors for many of their tyres - but other people like Conti and Kenda make good tyres too. Just be aware tyres vary in their mixture of properties - eg a Marathon Supreme is good at everything including speed but costs a lot, and a Marathon Plus is cheaper, the closest thing to absolutely puncture proof, but a real boat-anchor. The re-released Avocet Cross should be a very good all-rounder.

You might also think about adding Ergon Grips with bar ends, and switching to Koolstop pink brake pads if you ride in the wet.