before we get too excited about running a new circuit. . .
how old is your house? if it was built late enough to use romex (nm-b) wire, then you probably have a neutral wire somewhere close by. Some people (and don't get me wrong, they should NOT do this) split the hot and neutral wires before the switch box. Then they run the black wire in the box while routing the white wire around the box. This means they don't have to cut the white wire.
The way you're supposed to do it is to run the romex into the box, cut all the wires, install the switch, wirenut the white wires together behind the switch, and do the same to the ground wires. I'd check where the black wire comes into the box, look through the slot in the box and see if you see the white wire sitting there.
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