Enter into the Johnson Lobby at the Boylston street entrance of the Boston Public Library. The area, usually an impersonal space to check books in and out, has been transformed into a smorgasbord of city history told through postcards. “Grettings From Boston” is the library’s latest exhibit on display.

“It’s an eye-catching exhibit in what is kind of a cold space,” said Manager of Exhibitions Beth Prindle.

The exhibit involves passersby from all angles with enlarged postcards that hang from the ceiling, wall maps, informative text, a digital touch screen and collages. It highlights content that was already available in the archives of the print department, but widely unrecognized.

“We’re doing a major initiative to bring [things] to the public so you don’t have to go looking for them,” Prindle said. “It finds you.”

 “Greetings from Boston” was inspired by several travel writers who recently gave lectures at the library and the vintage travel poster exhibit that was displayed last year. Prindle said the exhibit was so popular that the staff wanted to showcase a similar display.

In the past, the library has put vintage postcards on display, but they were not showcased at this scale.

 “I remember a few years ago they put out they postcards and they were kind of just displayed in plastic but this is more modern,” said Gary Faulkner, a 52-year-old chef of Woburn.

 Faulkner especially enjoyed the interactive touch screen computer. Viewers can flip through the library of scanned images and examine them up-close on a screen.

The exhibit extends around the perimeter of the Johnson Lobby and each wall displays the postcards in a different way. One wall uses text to explain the history of postcards and the adjacent wall has a map of the area and enlarged images of postcards where the destination shown looks different.

“Parts of it are both familiar and completely foreign,” Prindle said. “Things have changed such as buildings that aren’t there anymore and cars have changed.”

Prindle said visitors use the exhibit in different ways.

“It’s more interactive than we imagined,” Prindle said.

Kids on their way to the Children’s Room trace their fingers along the wall map and lost tourists use the map to navigate because there area landmarks have not changed.

 The library’s vintage postcard collection is both dynamic and thorough. The archive contains more than 165,000 postcards and they serve as examples of period art and historical references.

“Grettings from Boston" was funded by anonymous donors of the Boston Public Library Foundation.

The exhibit is viewable during regular library hours through the end of March 2011.