I read the book before the films came out and loved them...but someone persuaded me that they were too long and complicated etc (don't ask me how...)...
Then FOTR came out...I didn't have any desire to see it, convinced that it would be too boring. But many people in my form went to see it and said it was amazing. I was in year 9 then, and we had one English lesson a week which was purely a reading lesson. We also did book talks. I was inspired (how corny does that sound?!) by all the positive feedback and read it again. I did my booktalk on it. A fair number of people had read it following watching the film, one girl saying that she had tried reading it before and hadn't been able to get into it, but the film had made it more accessible. I read it again then saw the film. The film just reinforced my newly discovered love for ME. So I am in that sticky position of not coming to the books because of the films...but without the films I would not have been a fan at all...
But certainly a lot of people ask me to clear things up for them. I have inspired a few people who haven't even watched the films to watch them then take it from there...
Because I did a talk comparing the books to the films (and people were like 'calm down!!') and people came up to me afterwards and were like 'thanks, I hadn't understood _____ before'...and so now when people need things clearing up they come to me.
I've persuaded some to read the books...and have taught others Tengwar and Angerthas Daeron...and the librarian seems to have a liking for ME as there is a map of Middle Earth stuck on a bookcase.