寄せる and 寄せられた: comments coming in from readers
Read the source and passive delivery of readers' comments in 寄せられた, compared with moving desks in 寄せる. Preserve the aisle-widening aim without assuming readers gathered or every comment was positive.
Many comments come in from readers
寄せる (よせる) can be used for sending or gathering contributions. 「読者から多くの感想が寄せられた。」 means “Many comments came in from readers.” 読者から identifies the source, while 多くの感想が identifies the content that came in.
寄せられた presents the comments as being submitted or received through a passive form. The comments are the subject, and the readers are their source. Comments coming in from readers should not be turned into an event in which the readers physically gathered in one place.
Desks moved toward a wall
「壁際に机を寄せて通路を広くした。」 is translated as “We moved the desks toward the wall to widen the aisle.” 机を names what was moved, and 壁際に gives the direction. In this English wording, widening the aisle is the aim; the purpose clause alone does not prove the aisle became wider.
Bringing desks closer to the wall and receiving comments involve different subjects and relations. The desks are moved objects, while the comments are submitted content. Compare the spatial action of 寄せる with the passive delivery expressed by 寄せられた without changing either scene's object.
Identify the source, content, and stated quantity
The から in 読者から tells you where the comments came from. 多くの感想 means many comments, with no exact count. Their arrival does not establish that all comments were positive or that every reader submitted one.
The central question is what came in and from whom, rather than who moved to a location. Use the desk scene as a comparison, then return to the comments' passive relation and reader source. The sentence does not specify the particular person or institution on the receiving side.
What came in, and from whom, in 「読者から多くの感想が寄せられた」?
Show the answer and why
Many comments came in from readers. The comments are the submitted content, and 読者から gives their source. The sentence does not say that the readers physically gathered in one place.