That seems like a good route. I may mention things here or there but make it so that it stands on it's own, easily contained in case there aren't other books.
I think the most important question here is, how big is your story compared to your world ? Do you want the story to feel like it deals with all the major stuff that's going on, that everything it introduces is plot-important and will be resolved, or do you want it to feel like a slice through a much larger universe with many more stories and things going on outside the scope of the one you are telling right now ?
There's no right answer to this one; there are great stories that take either approach. But if you're aiming for the former, you probably don't want to introduce that much at a world-building level that is not entwined with that particular story; if you're aiming for the latter feel, the more depth and density that is in there outside of what's important to your actual plot, the better.