Just about every college student has asked the nerve-wrecking question “do we really need the textbook?”

This question comes about because in the back of every student’s mind is the hope that “I won’t have to buy a $200 text book, only to use one chapter out of it.” Buying textbooks for a semester class is sometimes frustrating because, you’re paying more than enough for only a few chapters.

RedShelf, based in Chicago, allows students and faculty to seek digital copies of text that may be offered at a university’s bookstore. They offer low-priced affordable options of either purchasing or renting “cheap eTextbooks.” They have programmed their systems to be compatible with any “internet-enabled device,” which is perfect for those students whose lives revolve around their handheld device.

In all, RedShelf has taken the time to have quality material by partnering with major publishing companies such as Pearson, Macmilian, Cengage and McGraw-Hill which allows them to offer over “150,000 titles [to] over 155 colleges [and universities] nation-wide,” Gordon Elson, Sales Manager at RedShelf, said.

The co-founders and individuals that helped RedShelf grow to what it is now are all people who once struggled with paying for books while trying to pay for school simultaneously. This has allowed them to apply their personal knowledge of what they believe really will be the best option for students who may be in similar situations today.

Here is what RedShelf had to say about its collaboration with GSU:

“Our partnership with the Georgia Southern University campus bookstore focuses on the bookstore as the distributor of digital options on campus, without having the students look elsewhere for their textbooks. The bookstore is a trusted retailer for students, and our partnership allows the bookstore to offer eTextbooks both online and in-store along with other course materials, merchandise and everything else they offer!”