Since 2014, Eureka! Factory has been the premier consulting and design firm for public libraries in Tampa Bay and Central Florida, as well as for other organizations interested in developing creative spaces and programs in their facilities. You can see some our work on our Community Makerspaces page.
For the last couple of years, we’ve been working on a more personal project, immersed in the development and launch of AMRoC Fab Lab, own creative space, managed by our nonprofit Foundation for Community Driven Innovation.
AMRoC Fab Lab, a 7500 sq. ft. space set in a former sportswear store at University Mall (soon to become RITHM at Uptown) is essentially a living laboratory of all the principles and ideals laid out in our two books, Library Makerspaces, and Library Makerspace: A Complete Guide. The space is broader in focus than most of the makerspace projects we’ve worked on, with full youth robotics capabilities, a workshop, classroom and learning space, 3D printers, drones and more. As a non-governmental, non-profit run space, it’s also able to serve charitable capacity building needs in the University area, helping us explore what types of experiential, hands-on , learning-by-doing projects and programs provide the most economically empowering and personally fulfilling returns for the community and individuals.
Now that the space is pretty well established – even the advent of COVID-19 did not slow progress or development of the Fab Lab and related programs significantly – we’re able to turn our attention back to Eureka! Factory a bit, and bring our two worlds of consulting and design services, and community program development, back into the same orbit.
Eureka Factory will continue to provide consulting and support services to libraries and other organizations, as well as educational and experiential events and program management services, primarily in the Tampa Bay area, and invites interested businesses to get in touch via our Contact page, where you can also schedule personal meeting appointments. AMRoC Fab Lab will serve as a training center for librarians and others interested in learning more about makerspace management and programming, 3D printing, Computer Aided Design (CAD), maker education programming, and any or all related program needs.
We welcome the opportunity to work with libraries, schools, community centers, science centers and museums and any group looking to bring more creative programming and space use opportunities to their constituents and communities.