Has reading LOTR made me a better person? I don't think reading something can make you a better person. It is up to the person to make themselves better, even though the reading of a certain book may have helped them want to be better, only they can change themselves.
For me personally though, LOTR has helped me look on the world around me differently and see that even when life seems to be at it's worse, it can get better. But I did not read the books to help change me or make me a better person, I read them so I could lose myself in another world. When life gets crazy, Middle-Earth is my escape.