Linear lightwave networks (LLNs) are optical networks in which network nodes perform only linear operations on optical signals: power splitting, combining, and non-regenerative amplification. While previous efforts on LLNs assume only one fiber per link, we consider a multi-fiber linear lightwave network (M-LLN) architecture for telecommunications where switching exchanges are normally connected by multi-fiber cables. We propose a class of linear path (LP) allocation schemes for establishing optical paths in M-LLNs, and show that they have a better performance than those proposed for single-fiber LLNs. We show that M-LLNs can be implemented with commercially available components, and discuss the implementation issues in detail.